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Pakistan military helicopter crash: Mi-17 chopper crashes in Muzaffarabad, no survivors, says ISPR
The military said the helicopter went down due to a suspected technical fault, with rescue and recovery teams rushed to the site soon after the accident.
Pakistan Army's aviation wing suffered a major setback on Wednesday after a Mi-17 helicopter crashed near Muzaffarabad during take-off, killing all personnel on board. The military said the helicopter went down due to a suspected technical fault, with rescue and recovery teams rushed to the site soon after the accident.
“All personnel on board embraced martyrdom. There were no survivors,” the ISPR said in a statement, according to a Dawn report.
The ISPR statement further read that it has ordered a board of inquiry to ascertain the exact technical cause of the accident, said the report.
Chief of the Army Staff Asim Munir and all ranks of the army “express deep grief over the tragic loss of precious lives and extend heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families”, the ISPR statement said.
The cause of the crash and the exact number of fatalities remain unclear so far.
Helicopter crashes in Pakistan in recent years
Pakistan has witnessed a number of military helicopter crashes over the past decade, resulting in the deaths of several military personnel and crew members.
In September 2025, a Pakistan Army helicopter on a routine mission crashed in the country's northern region, killing two pilots and three technicians, according to the AP.
A month earlier, in August 2025, a helicopter belonging to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government went down in Mohmand district amid adverse weather conditions, claiming the lives of two pilots and three crew members, PTI reported.
On August 2, 2022, the wreckage of a Pakistan Army helicopter was found in Balochistan's Lasbela district, a day after it lost contact during a flight, said a Dawn report.
The following month, six army personnel, including two majors, died when a military helicopter crashed during a flying mission near Khost in Balochistan's Harnai district.
In December 2021, two pilots were killed after an Army Aviation helicopter crashed. A year earlier, in 2020, four Pakistani military personnel lost their lives when a helicopter conducting a casualty evacuation mission crashed due to technical reasons. In 2015, a military helicopter had crashed near Mansehra in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing all 12 people on board, according to Dawn.
